Between the 14 November 2023 and the 31 December 2023, the council asked for people’s views on proposed changes to its Post 16 Transport Statement.

The main changes consulted on were to move towards providing families of post-16 students with a personal travel budget, rather than the council arranging transport to and from educational settings.

We can now confirm that on the 9 April 2024, having considered the views people shared, the council approved the new Transport Statement. This will apply to all students, new and existing, who are attending college from August / September 2024.

What does this mean?

Currently, the council arranges transport for eligible post-16 students, which can be by way of shared mini-bus or, where need exists, an individual taxi. The new Transport Statement moves away from the council providing physical transport. Instead, for most families of post-16 students, a personal travel budget will be offered.

This budget will enable families to make their own transport arrangements so that students can travel to and from their educational setting.

Families can use the personal travel budget in any way they wish, so long as it is used to ensure students attend their post-16 educational setting. For example, this could include –

• Drive a student to college or school yourself
• Arrange for a friend or relative to cycle or walk with the student
• Car share with other parents
• Get a bus pass for a friend to accompany you
• Pay for a bus pass for the young person
• Pay for childcare for a sibling so you can take your eligible young person to college or school
• Work with the college or school to join up with other parents
• Use it towards the cost of a taxi or share the cost of the taxi with other parents

Please note that while most families will be offered a personal travel budget, there may be occasions where council organised transport will still be provided. Please see the section below headed ‘Council Organised Transport’ for further details.

How much will I receive?

The amount of money you receive is based on the shortest distance, by means of transport, between the student’s home and the nearest appropriate college/school they attend. We will use a combination of online route planning platforms and internal mapping systems to calculate this distance.

The payment bands are as follows -

Band 1 -  Less than 3 miles from home to educational setting -£300

Band 2 - Between 3 and 10 miles from home to educational setting -£1000

Band 3 - Between 10 and 20miles from home to educational setting - £2000

Band 4 - More than 20miles from home to educational setting - £3000

Payments will be made in advance on a monthly basis (11 payments over the year).

Council Organised Transport

There may be circumstances where the council considers it necessary to organise transport directly, rather than issuing families with a personal travel budget. For example –

• where a student is remaining in the same SEND setting for their post-16 education and it is deemed in the best interests of the council and/or student to remain on council organised transport.
• the student’s disability means it is in their best interests to be offered council organised transport.
• the cost of council organised transport is less than the cost of a personal travel budget

Eligibility for assistance

The new Post 16 Transport Statement sets out who qualifies for transport assistance.

The council will generally provide transport assistance if a student is not able to travel independently and safely to education EITHER because they have a special educational need or disability which may be identified in an Education Health and Care Plan OR because of other exceptional circumstances.

Please read the post-16 transport statement for further information on the qualifying criteria:  2024 – 2025 Post-16 Transport Statement (opens document in new window)

Please make sure you are meeting these criteria before considering whether to apply for transport assistance.

How to apply

To apply for post 16 transport assistance please use the application form below:

School Travel Assistance Application Form (opens link in new window)

* Please note, the form states that this form is only for children & young people aged 5-16, but this form can be used for those aged 16 +.

Next Steps

All eligible students, including existing post-16 students on transport, will need to apply / re-apply for transport assistance using this new online form. Applications will need to be submitted by 28 June 2024 to ensure they can be assessed in time for the new 2024 academic year.

Applications will then be assessed, and families notified of the outcome.

We are committed to working with local colleges on bringing in these new travel arrangements. Our aim is to make the changes as smoothly as possible.

Should you have any queries regarding this please contact the passenger travel team at  travel.assessment@kirklees.gov.uk